Key Events: Francis Joseph I

DATE

EVENT

1830	Born August 18 in the Schönbrunn palace, near Vienna, the eldest son of Archduke Francis Charles of Austria.
1848	March. Demonstrations in Vienna demand liberal reform. December. Francis Joseph becomes Emperor of Austria on the abdication of his uncle, Ferdinand I.
1849	August. Russian soldiers assist Austria in the suppression of the Hungarian revolt against Habsburg rule.
1851	Francis Joseph withdraws his support for the liberal March Constitution and the period of neoabsolutism begins.
1853	Outbreak of the Crimean War. Austria's failure to support Russia causes lasting resentment.
1854	Marriage to Elizabeth of Bavaria.
1859	Austria experiences heavy defeat in Italy, leading to the loss of Lombardy to the kingdom of Sardinia.
1860	The October Diploma introduces a system of limited constitutional government and closes the period of neoabsolutism.
1866	July. Austria defeated by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz. Prussia then dissolves the German Confederation and with it ends Austrian hegemony in Germany. August. Austria cedes Venetia to kingdom of Italy, ending Austrian presence in the Italian peninsula.
1867	The Ausgleich, or 'compromise', with Hungary sees the creation of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
1879	Austria-Hungary enters Dual Alliance with Germany.
1889	Suicide of Francis Joseph's son and heir Rudolph at Mayerling, near Vienna.
1898	Assassination of Empress Elizabeth by an Italian anarchist in Geneva.
1907	Francis Joseph supports the introduction of universal suffrage for elections to the Austrian parliament.
1908	Annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary.
1914	June. Assassination of Francis Joseph's nephew and heir Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo, creating tensions that lead to the outbreak of World War I.
1916	Death of Francis Joseph on November 21 in the Schönbrunn palace.